Summer School - Philosophy of Zhuangzi
The Philosophy Phor Phun class will have a Summer School on the Wednesday 11/1/23. For more information, please see the "Dates and Planning" tab on this blog.
The notes for class discussion can be downloaded here:
Zhuanzi (philosopher)
Zhuang Zhou commonly known as Zhuangzi (Chinese: 莊子; literally "Master Zhuang") was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States period, a period of great development in Chinese philosophy, the Hundred Schools of Thought. He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the Zhuangzi, which is one of the foundational texts of Daoism.
Zhuanzi (book)
The book Zhuangzi is an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period (476–221 BC). The Zhuangzi consists of a large collection of anecdotes, allegories, parables, and fables, which are often humorous or irreverent. Its main themes are of spontaneity in action and of freedom from the human world and its conventions.
The stories and anecdotes in the text attempt to illustrate the falseness of human distinctions between good and bad, large and small, life and death, and human and nature. While other ancient Chinese philosophers focused on moral and personal duty, Zhuangzi promoted carefree wandering and becoming one with "the Way" (Dào 道) by following nature.
Though primarily known as a philosophical work, the Zhuangzi is regarded as one of the greatest literary works in Chinese history, and has been called "the most important pre-Qin text for the study of Chinese literature".
A note on translations
Near the end of the Introduction of his book, Zhuangzi : Basic Writings, Burton Watson states that "Needless to say, I could not render the literal meaning of the original until I had first decided what it was, and in this sense my translation is as much an interpretation, and as tentative in many places, as any other.... the result inevitably represents my own interpretation of the text, and will not be quite like that of anyone else. With a work of such difficulty, there can never be anything like a definitive translation, because there is no such thing as a definitive interpretation. Every translator who takes up the text will produce his own Zhuangzi, and the more that are available for the reader to enjoy and compare, the better."
Comparing Timelines
Daoist philosophers
- Laozi 老子 (unknown, 6th century - 4th century BCE)
- Zhuangzi 庄子(c. 369 - c. 286 BCE, aged c. 82-83)
Confucian philosophers
- Kongzi 孔子 or Confucius (c. 551 - c. 479 BCE, aged 71–72)
- Mengzi 孟子 or Mencius (372 - 289 BCE, aged 82-83)
Greek philosophers
- Thales (c. 626 - c. 548 BCE, aged c.78)
- Socrates (c.470 - c. 399 BCE, aged c.71)
- Plato (c. 428 - c. 348 BCE, aged c. 80)
- Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE, aged 61-62)
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